The Church and Freemasonry: the Secret February 16 Meeting in Milan -- by Roberto de Mattei

Rorate Caeli ^ | February 22, 2024 | Roberto de Mattei

[ebb tide]

The Church and Freemasonry: the Secret February 16 Meeting in Milan -- by Roberto de Mattei

On Feb. 16, 2024, representatives of the main Italian Masonic lodges and a number of influential Catholic prelates gathered in Milan for a day of study. The seminar, sponsored at the Ambrosianum Foundation by the Gris (Group for Socio-Religious Research and Information), was attended by the three Grand Masters of Italian Freemasonry: Stefano Bisi for the Grand Orient of Italy (GOI), Luciano Romoli for the Grand Lodge of Italy of the ALAMs (GLDI,  and Fabio Venzi (in connection) for the Grand Regular Lodge of Italy (GLRI). On the Catholic side, Archbishop Mario Delpini of Milan, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Franciscan theologian Father Zbigniew Suchecki, and Bishop Antonio Staglianò, president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, participated in the meeting. Archbishop Delpini gave the opening address and Cardinal Coccopalmerio the closing one. The meeting was behind closed doors, but the relevance of the participants leaked its contents, which Riccardo Cascioli first brought to light in The New Daily Compass on Feb. 19.

On Feb. 20, the website of the Grand Orient of Italy in turn carried the full report of Grand Master Bisi, who has led Italy's leading Masonic organization for ten years. "In the course of its more than 300 years of existence, no institution has been opposed, fought, misrepresented, besmirched, and so much feared as Universal Freemasonry," Bisi said, criticizing for this the Catholic Church, "which has seen Freemasonry as a potential competitor in the spiritualization and elevation of Man," but forgetting to say that it was precisely Freemasonry that has opposed, fought, misrepresented, and besmirched the Church over the past three centuries.

"Why is the Masonic lodge beautiful and why don't church authorities like it?" explained Bisi: "Because under the same sky -- which represents Creation -- each man is a brother to the other, the bond of brotherhood is independent of faith. It is only necessary to believe in the Great Architect of the Universe. The starry sky is the same for the Buddhist, for the Catholic, for the Waldensian, for the Islamic, for all those who believe in a supreme being. (...) Absolute truths and walls of the mind do not belong to us and for us they must be torn down."  For Bisi, who had the effrontery to ask the Pope to gather around the monument of the heretic and apostate Giordano Bruno, among the truths that must be torn down is, of course, the Catholic faith, which presents itself as absolute and universal. Bisi's wish that it be "declared that membership in a Masonic lodge is reconcilable with membership in the Catholic faith," is nothing more than a request to the Church to turn its back on its doctrine and join the Masonic, Gnostic and relativist Pantheon. And the fact that the Grand Master recalled the names of Cardinal Ravasi and Cardinal Martini as patrons confirms this impression.

Bisi recalled that Cardinal Martini "was at home" in Masonic circles and praised Cardinal Ravasi's well-known article "Dear Brother Masons" published in Il Sole24Ore on Feb. 14, 2016. Their pioneering work seems to want to be carried on by Cardinal Coccopalmerio who, in the Milan seminar, said, among other things, "Fifty years ago there was less knowledge but things have moved on and I hope that these meetings do not stop here. I wonder if we cannot think of a permanent panel, even at the level of authorities, to discuss things better."

Archbishop Staglianò for his part criticized the Nov. 13, 2023 document of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and approved ex audientia, by Pope Francis, according to which it is forbidden for Catholics to join Masonic lodges, "because of the irreconcilability between Catholic doctrine and Freemasonry." This document confirms the Church's centuries-old condemnation, which apparently was only recalled during the seminar by Father Zbigniew Suchecki. But we will have to wait for the publication of all the speeches to be able to make an accurate judgment on the proceedings.

What is certain is that, according to the Grand Lodge of Italy of the ALAM (Ancient Free and Accepted Masons), the meeting "culminated in a unanimous consensus on the advisability of establishing a permanent discussion panel."

It is worth mentioning at this point that relativism constitutes the soul of Freemasonry, although it does not encapsulate its entire essence. Freemasonry, in fact, presumes to be a "universal religion," the repository of a secret of which the Freemason gradually becomes aware through the rites, symbols, and texts he assimilates, but also through the atmosphere he breathes in the lodges in which he is placed.

It should be added that there is no such thing as a "bad," atheistic, and anticlerical Freemasonry, and a "good" "religious" and "spiritualist" Freemasonry, as one often hears people repeat, distinguishing between the Latin (left-wing) and the Anglo-American (right-wing) Freemasonry. In reality, in all lodges, the first degrees are overlaid with Masonic High Degree systems called "Rites," which are characterized by magical and "Kabbalistic" content. Not all affiliates of Freemasonry know its ultimate ends, learned only from the initiated to the highest degrees, who swear, under penalty of death, not to reveal them, but behind the different rites and obediences, there is the same worldview, diametrically opposed to that of the Catholic Church. Jean-Claude Lozac'hmeur's studies on the occult origins of Freemasonry show that it inherits faith and customs from Gnosticism (Fils de la veuve: essai sur le symbolisme maçonnique, Éditions Sainte Jeanne d'Arc, Chiré 1990), and Father Paolo Siano has devoted in-depth studies to Masonic Luciferism, refuting the thesis of those who believe that it is cultivated only by "fringe," i.e., marginal, Freemasonry, but is alien to regular Freemasonry (Studi vari sulla Libera Muratoria, Casa Mariana Editrice, Frigento 2012). 

Father Siano himself, who has devoted many essays to Freemasonry, including recent ones, in "Corrispondenza Romana," in a polite controversy with Gaetano Masciullo, author of La tiara e la loggia. Freemasonry versus the Church (Faith and Culture, Verona 2023), showed that Freemasonry is far from declining, but is still alive and operational (https://www.fidescatholica.com/1828-2/ and https://www.corrispondenzaromana.it/in-merito-alla-mia-recensione-al-libro-la-tiara-e-la-loggiadi-g-masciullo-e-la-replica-dellautore/).

The danger is to divert attention away from Freemasonry in order to pursue forms of neo-complottery, which denounce the action of "plutocratic elites," and "Cabals" of different kinds, forgetting the presence of what Leo XIII, in his encyclical Custodi di quella fede of December 8, 1892, calls "a sect which after nineteen centuries of Christian civilization strives to bring down the Catholic Church." If Freemasonry no longer poses a threat, even meetings like the one in Milan find their own reason to take place.

[Jamestown1630]

I’ve known Freemasons. They are some of the finest men I’ve encountered.

[cgbg]

There are six million Masons worldwide.

99.9% of them have absolutely no clue what the secret teachings are.

Once they learn them—watch your back.

[dfwgator]

[Jamestown1630]

Oh, I see. You know all about these ‘secret teachings’ that almost six million other men don’t?

Argue your conspiratorial nuttiness with someone else.

[caver]

“Masonry gets slandered by idiots.”

There plenty of them idiots here on FR. My whole family are Masons. And I know many Masons.

[cgbg]

I didn’t make this stuff up—the “secret” is not all that secret anymore.

Do your homework—I gave two links to get you started.

[cgbg]

The lower level folks are fine.

They are just dupes—not their fault.

[Jamestown1630]

I don’t need your links. I’ve known the people, and I know all the nasty conspiracy theories that have been devised throughout their history to condemn the Freemasons.

Like I said, argue this nonsense with someone else.

[ebb tide]

I don’t know.

I don’t belong to any lodges and I don’t know who their “Supreme Beings” are.

[cgbg]

Manley Hall tells it like it is—and the book was written in the 1920s so it is not some conspiracy theorist making stuff up in their mother’s basement.

He is actually sympathetic to Masonry—but his point is that the most important symbols and teachings do not mean what the average Mason thinks they mean.

If you are going to buy into an organization it is a good idea to dig deeply into its mission and philosophy—not just drink the Kool Aid served at local meetings.

[Mogger]

Only godless idiots are freemasons.

So, in your view, George Washington and most of the founding fathers of the USA were godless idiots?

[Jamestown1630]

Folks here must think those old Founders were real stupid, too.

[cgbg]

The Founding Fathers were mostly deists—which meant they believed in God.

However most key figures were also Masons—which at the upper levels is a very complex worldview far removed from the comfort zone of almost all Freepers.

It is obvious from this thread that most folks here have absolutely no idea what that worldview looked like.

Folks really need to read Manley Hall.

[Jamestown1630]

It’s obvious to me that some people here DO grasp this ‘worldview’ on which you claim to be such an expert - and they have no problem with it.

[cgbg]

I have not seen one post on this thread that shows any understanding at all of the secret Masonic worldview.

We can’t even reach that low bar—nobody around here is even capable of reasonably discussing the pros and cons of it.

It is fair to say that those folks who recognize it is not traditional Christianity are correct.

The secret teachings are closer to the Medieval alchemists—who are also widely misunderstood.

The kindergarten version of the Secret Teachings:

Mind and matter is one. Humans manifest their own reality. We think then we build. Then there is a feedback loop where what we have built affects what we think.

I could go on..but this stuff is so different than modern conventional thought—whether religious or scientific—that it is like speaking a foreign language.

[Jamestown1630]

Oh, but we’re assured that YOU understand the ‘SECRETS’.

There have been MANY books that teach exactly what you state in your post 35 - some authors were Masons, some not - but there’s been nothing secret about them for a long time.

(And of course it’s not ‘traditional Christianity’ - Freemasonry is not a religion. Jews have been Freemasons, some Grand Masters; and there have been and are Muslim Freemasons.)

[cgbg]

I will give you an example of the Secret Teachings in action—in today’s world.

You will not like the example—but the anger you will feel is called a “teaching moment”.

Fifty years ago virtually nobody identified themselves as “transgender” and the few that did exist were considered very weird and mentally ill.

Today these freaks hold positions of power in Western governments and other institutions.

What happened?

That is an example of Magic.

Something was created from Nothing.

The human mind manifested an Idea (a really crazy one) and made it real in human institutions.

This was a Top Down operation.

A relatively few people drove the craziness.

They proved they had so much power they could manifest something insane in the real world.

That is the Secret.

Welcome to the Masons.

;-)

[Jamestown1630]

No. True magic lies in an awareness, it’s not a manipulation.

Silly or weak-minded people can be convinced to believe anything, especially when their societal stability is disintegrating and threatening - and there are always evil people willing to manipulate that. That isn’t magic.

(I guess you think that deluded people playing with so-called ‘Wiccan’ rituals are practicing ‘magic’; or that I can just ‘decide’ to hit the lottery and have it come true.)

[ebb tide]

It’s obvious to me that some people here DO grasp this ‘worldview’ on which you claim to be such an expert - and they have no problem with it.

And that's a crying shame, that: they have no problem with it: indifferentism.

Papal Condemnations of the Lodge

Masonry constitutes a religion of naturalism which considers the basic Christian doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, the necessity of baptism, and the role of the Church in the plan of salvation to be quite incidental. The lodge furthermore exacts a series of oaths from its candidates which cannot be called valid extrajudicial oaths; those who swear such oaths, agreeing to the most horrible self-mutilation in order to protect a few passwords and secret grips, are objectively guilty of either vain or rash swearing. Third, the Masonic order has historically sought to destroy the Catholic Church and to substitute a purely secular society. Posing as nonpartisan in religious affairs the lodge plumps for abolishment of parochial schools, easy divorce laws, cremation, suppression of religious orders especially the Society of Jesus, and a separation of Church and State never envisioned by the framers of the First Amendment. In addition, American Freemasonry discriminates against Negroes, promotes a spirit of religious indifference, lends itself to manifold injustices through preferential treatment of Masons by Masons, and expunges the name of Christ from lodge prayers and from Bible passages used in the ritual.

[cgbg]

Go into the local Masonic lodge and denounce the Trans movement—and watch what happens next.

Lol.

The Magic is powerful and it is real—and it is not your friend.